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Westbrook Makes a Bully Appearance on MTV

I was half-asleep at 10 p.m. - yeah, I'm pathetic - when I remembered that the Redskins' first-round draft pick from 1995 was scheduled to appear on MTV's "Bully Beatdown." I had to check it out.

The show's premise is pretty ridiculous. A guy or group of guys is being bullied, so MTV offers the offending party the chance to win $10,000 by fighting trained mix-martial arts pros in a ring. ... And these bozos go for it and get crushed.

In this case, Westbrook was the pro. He's ripped beyond belief and has a black belt in one discipline and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I think, and looks like a 10th-degree jaw crusher. He's up against a 6-foot-7 stiff who has no formal training and weighs about 220. Westbrook was all too eager to destroy this guy.

He got him into four tap-out holds in the first three-minute round and then, in the kick-boxing stage, pummeled the guy's head repeatedly. The ref had to step in a bunch of times as Westbrook was gleefully destroying this civilian (aren't most martial arts for self-defense?) who had no chance of defending himself against a guy who was locked in and seeking blood. Watching that show, it was pretty easy to flash back to that day in training camp when Westbrook jumped teammate Stephen Davis.

"Haynesworth, Yeah I hate it when my team picks up the best free agent available, especially when its at a position that we have rarely had a dominant player, and especially especially when it is one as critical as the position that the picked up free agent plays.

Posted by: Stu27 | March 31, 2009"

Yeah, especially if they win even though he doesn't play a single down ... because he has been suspended for leaving the scene of an accident he caused where someone was seriously injured.

Still, I do not believe that cutting Rabach is the solution, nor a good idea. Not unless there is a competent replacement with knowledge of the offensive scheme & tendencies of the guards [thomas/dock]..... which, there isn't? correct me if I'm wrong?

"Still, I do not believe that cutting Rabach is the solution, nor a good idea. Not unless there is a competent replacement with knowledge of the offensive scheme & tendencies of the guards [thomas/dock]..... which, there isn't? correct me if I'm wrong?"

I AM NOT SAYING ITS A SOLUTION. Remember its me? The guy who thinks they should have maybe kept Springs and MWash and thought better of signing Haynesworth? And so often criticized and made fun of.

While I don't think that Rabach is a good starting center. That doesn't mean you throw the guy away either. You draft and groom a replacement, NOW.

My **hunch** is that Vinnie will release the guy if they do draft a couple of C/G (or toss in the idea of converting Jansen) in order to get salary cap relief.

It IS NOT something I would do. I am just trying to follow the circuitous and confusing thread that is the Snidely and Vinnie show.

Yeah, especially if they win even though he doesn't play a single down ... because he has been suspended for leaving the scene of an accident he caused where someone was seriously injured.

Posted by: periculum | March 31, 2009 2:22 PM | Report abuse

Source? I read that Haynesworth was the one who called the police and that he didn't leave the scene until the police said it was ok. Maybe get your facts straight next time before you slander somebody.

This team is going to get a makeover over the next couple years, the OL is the biggest challenge.

I estimate 13-19 of the Skins top 30 players will change within two years.

The question isn't whether the makeover is coming, its what is going to get changed and when. So far, the Skins have changed LG, DT, CB (Springs departure, Hall was already here). Its a start, but the next couple years will see a bunch more turnover

"Source? I read that Haynesworth was the one who called the police and that he didn't leave the scene until the police said it was ok. Maybe get your facts straight next time before you slander somebody.

Posted by: paperwc | March 31, 2009"

Sheesh, yet another SRA reading challenged dolt who does not read this blog ...

Straight from THIS BLOG!!!

Not-Guilty Plea Entered for Haynesworth

A not-guilty plea was entered on behalf of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth in his arraignment Monday on two misdemeanor traffic charges that stemmed from a December crash in which another driver was seriously injured.

Haynesworth, a two-time Pro Bowler whom the Redskins signed to a record seven-year, $100 million dollar contract Feb. 27, was not required to appear in the Williamson (Tenn.) County courthouse and did not attend, according to Circuit Court Deputy Clerk Angie Weiker.

His attorney entered the not-guilty plea to charges of reckless driving and having an expired registration, Weiker said. The case was reset for review April 28. A phone message left for Haynesworth's attorney, Glenn Funk, was not immediately returned.
Reckless driving carries a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $500 fine, and Haynesworth could receive another 30 days in jail and $50 fine for the other charge.

"Source? I read that Haynesworth was the one who called the police and that he didn't leave the scene until the police said it was ok. Maybe get your facts straight next time before you slander somebody.

Posted by: paperwc | March 31, 2009"

Haynesworth was on probation for a March incident in which he was driving 103 in a 70 mile per hour zone. He was placed on probation as part of a diversionary agreement with the Williamson County District Attorney’s office just four days prior to the wreck involving Edmondson.

“At that time, in discussion with his attorney, we agreed whereby if he complied with the diversionary program set forth that the ticket would be removed from his record. That is the same sort of consideration we would give to any other citizen,” Williamson County district attorney Kim Helper said. “And four days later, he was traveling on I-65 again, and by the accounts of a witness was involved in a crash where speed was a factor and where a gentleman suffered serious injuries and eventually had to have hip replacement surgery.”

"Haynesworth, Yeah I hate it when my team picks up the best free agent available, especially when its at a position that we have rarely had a dominant player, and especially especially when it is one as critical as the position that the picked up free agent plays.

Posted by: Stu27 | March 31, 2009"

Yeah, especially if they win even though he doesn't play a single down ... because he has been suspended for leaving the scene of an accident he caused where someone was seriously injured.

Posted by: periculum | March 31, 2009 2:22 PM | Report abuse

Cmon buddy this guy is a paid out the @ss celebrity, do you really think hes going to jail? you have far to much faith in a balanced American justice system. not happening.

the ultimate fighting needs 1 rule change to get me 100% on board. they need a time limit on how long they can grapple on the ground, because its annoyingly dull to watch two guys roll around on the floor for a full round.

Unfortunetly, I watched this as well. But since we are on the topic of Skins related TV matters, on 24 last night, some dude bet John Voight a pair of Redskins season tickets that some hostage wouldn't talk.

I was waiting for the hostage to respond by saying "Why, so you can get ripped off while watch barely above mediocre football games."

Maybe MTV should have another show called "RI Hater Beatdown" for hater posters on RI - them who hate on the Skins, RI or another poster. The premise would be simple: MTV offers the hating party the chance to win $10,000 by fighting trained mix-martial arts pros in a ring. The hater bozos will go for it and what little brains they have get crushed and we never hear from them again.

Haynesworth has said nothing about the accident except a statement from his agent Chad Speck;

"Albert was involved in an automobile accident in December. It occurred the morning after it had snowed over half an inch the night before in Brentwood and the temperature that morning was in the low 30s. There were slick spots on the road and when the accident occurred Albert immediately pulled over and called the police. He was not cited by officers at the time and did not leave the scene until instructed to do so by a police officer.

hey periculum, am I still reading challenged or were you the one having trouble sounding it out?

The stupid part about peri's post is that even if AH were to go to jail, knowing agents and players' lawyers, it probably would be worked around the season, if not reduced to nothing (i.e. just fines and probation or whatever the proper term is, and community service, no jail time). In addition, I think the guy who flashed his high beams at a pedestrian before killing him/her is in a lot more trouble as far as Goodell is concerned than AH. If AH is suspended by the commissioner, it most likely won't be very long, especially if he makes him hire a driver (and he ought to be able to afford it), and builds a racetrack on his new mansion.

Remember in the Gus Head Butts Wall Game against NY in '97?; Westbrook slammed his helmet down costing the Skins a shot at a potential winning FG. The game ended in a tie. The skins really needed that win as the season wound down.

“...if you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn’t belong here.”

Stafford, a potential first-round draft pick, told the Detroit Free Press that the psychologist presumed Stafford had “unfinished business” about his parents’ split in high school.

Stafford said he answered no and inquired how much the doctor was being paid for the analysis.

Stafford scored a -4.45, putting him in unflattering surroundings to say the least. You never want to be on a list that includes Jim Druckenmiller and Akili Smith. Stafford's career completion percentage of 57.1 percent and his touchdown-interception ratio of 1.55 were primarily responsible for his poor showing. That left him rated well below USC quarterback Mark Sanchez and slightly behind Kansas State's Josh Freeman.

periculum: "But the most revealing category were those quarterbacks who finished with a value of 0 or less. Every one of them failed as NFL quarterbacks. Take a look:Scores of First-Round Quarterbacks, 1997-2008"

Now that's interesting. What's the system based on? Of course it's hindsight, and as the saying goes, hindsight makes for poor science, but still, it's interesting. Has periculum located a helpful fact? Share more with us, please. What are the criteria for the ratings?

After a very slow start, periculum is catching up with 6 of the last 7 posts. I don't think he can close the 31 post lead that the rest of us have over him, but with periculum anything is possible. No lead is safe unless a new post is imminent.

Does anyone else find it remarkable that Yahoo's Mock Draft has the #1 and #2 picks as OTs...half of the top 6 picks are OTs...6 OTs in the first 22 picks! And the Skins still walk away with Michael Oher at #13?

I know it's just a mock, but are the OTs this year really that talented? Or are there just that many NFL teams with OT needs? I remember when QBs, and your speedy RBs, CBs, and WRs seemed to dominate the 1st round. Everyone was trying to get faster....

alan4: "Does anyone else find it remarkable that Yahoo's Mock Draft has the #1 and #2 picks as OTs...half of the top 6 picks are OTs...6 OTs in the first 22 picks! And the Skins still walk away with Michael Oher at #13?"

It could happen. The NFL draft has a herd instinct akin to Wall Street in the last couple months. All it takes is one team to panic and the rest... well, think lemmings.

Still, that's my question too: is there a Chris Samuels in this crop, or just a lot of very good but not great ones?

Of course, I'm wondering the same thing about last year's bunch. How good will Jake Long or Jeff Otah or Sam Baker turn out to be in the long run? A strong start does not a career make -- unfortunately.

It appears Comcast and the NFL Network are getting a divorce effective May 1st. I absolutely LOVE the NFL Network so this is killing me! I'm thinking of changing to DirectTV but I still want to pick up ComcastSportsNet (CSN)which has the Skins pregame and postgame shows as well as Redskins Nation. Can those of you who have Direct TV tell me if it's possible to get CSN on DirectTV. It seems very unlikely but I swear SFSkins said she could get the channel.

Also, can you get high speed internet with Direct TV? I use Comcast for that as well.

You can but it is typically done by a separate "ground-based" company.

The problem with satellite internet is that the downlink is decidely faster than the uplink. Satellite providers require access to your phone line for the "uplink" part of the process ... selecting movies, channels, etc.

Is it possible to do it the "right" way. Well, yes, but that would require an entire transponder. Personally I like the idea ... almost rented my own from ThaiComm because theirs was so cheap. Hard to resist.

Priest sez: make that 23 TE. NOTING THAT MOST OF THE POSTS MADE LAST NIGHT WERE OF A SIMILAR NATURE ...

NEW statistic. How many actually useful posts by TE were made yesterday and today. ZERO. Still waiting for 1.

"periculum: "But the most revealing category were those quarterbacks who finished with a value of 0 or less. Every one of them failed as NFL quarterbacks. Take a look:Scores of First-Round Quarterbacks, 1997-2008"

Now that's interesting. What's the system based on? Of course it's hindsight, and as the saying goes, hindsight makes for poor science, but still, it's interesting. Has periculum located a helpful fact? Share more with us, please. What are the criteria for the ratings?

Posted by: Samson151 | March 31, 2009"

From last night:

ESPN Research developed this formula to measure quarterbacks relative to a baseline completion percentage of 60 and a touchdown-interception ratio of 2.25. The multipliers allow each figure to have equal weight with career starts, which provides an important measure of experience.

The total score is the sum of the three adjusted figures.

The separate parameters for BCS and non-BCS quarterbacks help level the statistical playing field. They are based on the assumption that NFL-caliber quarterbacks playing against non-BCS opponents are going to have inflated numbers.

Lisa,
DirecTV carries CSN as well as MASN, it's no extra charge in this area -- although you might need to subscribe to the 'local' package in order to do so.
FIOS is a great choice if they've installed it in your area. I don't know how they package NFLN or CSN -- whether it's basic tier or not -- but their prices stack up pretty well to DirecTV.

DirecTV used to sell satellite internet (DirecWay), which has morphed into HughesNet. It does not require a phone line (except possibly during initial setup).

Satellite Internet is a solution ONLY IF DIALUP IS YOUR ONLY OTHER OPTION. The satellite is in geosynchronous orbit @22,500 miles high; so in addition to the routing it takes to get from your PC to the destination server, you've got an extra 45,000 miles to travel. The technical word for it is 'latency', but you will know it as 'slllloooowwww'.

lisa, I have directv with the football and sports packages and do get csn. my only problem is that i live in ohio and the preseason games are blacked out as well as the replays of the game later at night, but thats what tivo's for

"Satellite Internet is a solution ONLY IF DIALUP IS YOUR ONLY OTHER OPTION. The satellite is in geosynchronous orbit @22,500 miles high; so in addition to the routing it takes to get from your PC to the destination server, you've got an extra 45,000 miles to travel. The technical word for it is 'latency', but you will know it as 'slllloooowwww'.

Posted by: daggar | March 31, 2009"

Sigh ... deep sigh ... the Priest sez: 23

well NO they are not in geosynchronous orbit daggar. They are LEO's and that stands for low earth orbit. Why you ask. Well you gave the reason the distance to geosynchronous orbit is wayyyyyyy too far to make TV work well. You would need a ultra powerful transmitter and that is expensive, requiring a HUGE satellite.

Of course if you are in the good ol' Evening Star with good ol' Scott McLeod the SPACE ANGEL along with Taurus and Crystal Mace you would be in a HUGE space station capable of such things ... unfortunately, today that is still the realm of sci-fi.

So, why can't we do full duplex from closer earth orbit? Again its expensive to provide transponders and a switch to go with it for literally millions of subscribers. Far easier to do the olllllld fashioned TV station thang ...
Jest beam all the programs in a single bound.

So, you might ask, how do they do that interactive thing where you can select movies? Well last I looked you still had to tune in at certain times. Whereas CABLE has indeed reached the point where you CAN select and start movies on demand. However, the quality isn't as good. The nature of "cables" and their penchant for trying to squeeze money out of their infrastructure means less signal, somewhat less quality.

However, virtually unlimited signal bandwidth is possible through the air ... so ... 50Mbit for starters ... and then some.

Its why they call it WIDEBAND as opposed to BROADBAND.

Mebbe someday with the Ares V (read Saturn V that idiot Nixon killed because he didn't come up with it) we will be able to ONCE AGAIN heavy lift into orbit ...

Ooops my mistake they are in geosynchronous orbit ... with only 24-32 transponders ... hmmm always thought they were LEO's guess I was thinking of GlobalStar two-way communication.

My mistake. Mea Culpa. I was actually thinking of what it takes to do true full duplex communication with one of them bad-boys. It would require a LEO satellite until the Ares V is available. Then we might see something better.

DirecTV used to sell satellite internet (DirecWay), which has morphed into HughesNet. It does not require a phone line (except possibly during initial setup).

Posted by: daggar | March 31, 2009 8:04 PM |

People get this only when there is no other choice except smoke signals. It is sucky. I had neighbors on the Eastern Shore who used it and cursed it continually. Once Verizon brought DSL they dropped it.

Was looking at some old threads...this one was too funny not to re-post:

"The Truth"
by Jason La Canfora

"This franchise went from 900 million to 1.5 billion since Gibbs came here in 2004. That's the bottom line here. Snyder is not gonna give the head coaching job to someone that doesn't have that big name, that sex appeal, who is not going to help him sell club level seats, and expensive suites." -Beat Reporter, January 8

"I keep hearing that Jim Fassel is in a great position to get this job" -Beat Reporter, January 22

"Gregg Williams is by far the leading candidate for this job." -Beat Reporter, January 12

"Bill Cowher fits the bill for what Snyder would be attracted to" -Beat Reporter, January 8

"former Baltimore DC Rex Ryan would replace Gregg Williams if it goes down this way" -Beat Reporter, January 22

"The Redskins have still said nothing to Williams and the rest of the coaches and all signs pointing to Fassel." -Beat Reporter, January 22

"I Need A Job Where I Can Just Make Things Up And Create The News" -Beat Reporter, January 21

"In an era of rampant speculation I am being as careful as I can." -Beat Reporter, January 21

"For all of the yapping about continuity and stability, sure sounds like a blood-letting is upon us. Owner Dan Snyder was given multiple opportunities to endorse an in-house candidate, and specifically Gregg Williams, and declined to do so." -Beat Reporter, January 8

"Jim Fassel, former Giants coach and Baltimore assistant, could be getting a look." -Beat Reporter, January 21

"Cowher fits the bill for what Snyder would be attracted to. Now, as I mentioned earlier Cowher would want full roster and personnel control and probably want to bring some of his own people in as well" -Beat Reporter, January 8

"Cowher is off the market...He knows the kind of $$$ Snyder spends and he is not wavering in his stance" -Beat Reporter, January 10

"I'd be stunned if the Skins don't reach out to Cowher soon" -Beat Reporter, January 8

"It doesn't come off as a great sign that they bring in Williams's former assistant, obviously" -Beat Reporter, January 10

"We've just started this process. It's the first interview of many. We need to slow down. It's impossible to see the entire picture right now. It's a fluid situation and this isn't free agency - you don't hire every guy you bring into town." -Beat Reporter, January 10

"Wouldn't it be an indictment of this entire Joe Gibbs 2.0 era if Snyder went through the process then handed it over to someone with little-to-no head coaching experience - without at least talking to the in-house guys first" -Beat Reporter, January 10

"Greg Williams will most definitely be a part of the process and, as I posted earlier, he is expected to interview at the end of the cycle, likely the final interview." -Beat Reporter, January 11

"the consensus I keep coming to is Williams is the guy" -Beat Reporter, January 12

"it will make sense next year to fire them and hire Bill "The Jaw" Cowher"

I believe that this would have been the case no matter who he hired. Remember, no assistant coach (save, perhaps, Zorn or Blache) have more than a 2 year deal remaining. It would be easy for "Mr." Snyder to clean house next year or the year after.

All NFL jobs have an inordinate amount of pressure associated with them, and NFL head coaches bear a ton of that pressure on their shoulders. Add the Snyder Factor to the equation, and, well, that's a lot of pressure. Even barno would crack.

Posted by: PDiddy | February 7, 2008 12:22 PM

It's amusing to read comments like these. It's just amazing to see that some people actually believe that Dan Snyder has spent all of this time, countless hours over the past month, putting all these pieces together on his coaching staff, interviewing countless candidates and advisers into the wee hours of the night, then re-interviewing many of them--some as many as 4 times--all so he can break it all up a year from now. Yeah, I'm sure that's his plan. You've figured him out, Puffy.

Like I said...there are some intellectual lightweights among us.

Posted by: barno | February 7, 2008 12:38 PM

barno, I can assure you, I am not an intellectual lightweight.

I stand by my assertion. If Fassel goes 8-8 or worse, this thing will get blown up again.

Cerrato: "The thing what we are going to do, Doc, is we are going to make it competitive. Even at kicker with Shaun [Suisham]. I think Shaun, inside the 40, I mean I think he was like 95 percent. Outside of the 40 is where he struggled.

"What we, well hadn't mentioned here, when he did have [Derrick] Frost as the holder he was much more consistent than when he had [Ryan] Plackemier, so there is something to go into that also, not to make excuses for him. What he needs to improve upon is his long distance field goal accuracy. Short, inside the 40 he was excellent. He needs to improve upon that (long-range) because he did improve upon his kickoffs."

A quick interjection: I mentioned when Suisham signed his tender that I had noticed a possible correlation between the change in holders (from Brooks, not Frost, to Plackemeier) and his change in output, but I didn't give the actual numbers. So here they are:

With Durant Brooks as holder for the first six games of the season, Suisham was 12 of 15 on field goal attempts, or 80%. (He was also 5 of 6 during preseason with a combination of Frost andBrooks.)

In the ten games after Plackemeier took over the holding duties, Suisham went 14/21, or 66% -- a fairly notable drop-off. Of course, neither Brooks nor Frost is likely to be doing any holding for Suisham this season, so it remains to be seen if these numbers have any signifance at all.

Cerrato: "At punter we had Durant Brooks, who we drafted and, Doc, did a phenomenal job in pre-season. I mean he won the job in pre-season and he kicked great. Then once the season started, whether he couldn't handle the pressure or what he couldn't handle, he just couldn't handle it and we moved on.

"Plackemier was too inconsistent and so we have a couple guys who will compete and we will always be looking. These guys will be the first two to try. It will always be kind of an open competition. If there is somebody out there or if these guys aren't doing the job then we will look to improve through mini-camp, OTAs.

"We won't draft another punter.

"The thing about it is, with punters and kickers, they have to go through a few camps to get the feel for it, get the hang of it, whatever it may be. That is kind of where we are at in the kicking game."

I imagine that "We won't draft another punter" will make a lot of people very happy.

Cerrato: "The thing about it is, we have great coverage teams. We cover well. We return well kicking. Rock was outstanding. We need to improve upon punt returns.

"The thing we did is we picked up in the off-season is we picked up Dominique Dorsey who was the MVP of the Canadian league as a special teamer. Punt returner, kicker, third down guy. Played at UNLV, real fast guy and was great on tape up there in Canada.

"And then we also got a guy that Denver cut, Anthony Alridge, who the year before from the University of Houston, at the combine ran 4.34, at his personal workout ran a 4.22 and he is a third down guy. I talked to Mike Shanahan about him. When he got cut, when he was on the wire, I called him and said Mike, what do you think about this guy. He said, get him. He said he is the fastest guy I have ever seen on the field with the ball in his hands. He was a rookie last year. He got 100 yards against I think Buffalo in the pre-season and then he hurt is foot and they put him on IR the whole year."

When they signed these guys to futures deals, I referred to both of them as potential bargain Darren Sproles types, and that certainly seems to be the hope. I've seen them both around at offseason conditioning, and, while I haven't seen them running, I can tell you that they are both just as small as advertised.

On incumbent guys, Cerrato also notes that Antwaan Randle El "is definitely going to have the opportunity" at punt returner, while Santana Moss would be a special-situation punt return weapon.

Where is everyone? This is a big story. Cutler is definitely being traded! Right from the owner's mouth, according to nfl.com. Any thoughts? Would we offer JC straight up? I wouldn't offer any more than that.

It’s official: QB Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos are getting a divorce.

After a contentious and over a month-long falling-out between Cutler and new coach Josh McDaniels couldn’t be resolved, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen issued the following statement today:

“Numerous attempts to contact Jay Cutler in the last 10 days, both by Head Coach Josh McDaniels and myself, have been unsuccessful. A conversation with his agent earlier today clearly communicated and confirmed to us that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos. We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded.”

The bad blood between the QB and McDaniels started in late February when word leaked that the new coach reportedly had discussed a deal that would have brought Matt Cassel to Denver and shipped out Cutler. McDaniels tutored Cassel in New England.

Denver players are not talking to the media because of the Jay Cutler saga.

My take: The rift between the Broncos' quarterback and the team is clearly weighing on everyone in the organization. The fact that the players aren't talking to the media right now (and they are not required to talk to the media during the offseason conditioning program) means players don't want to get involved in the saga. If this issue continues (and there have been no signs of a resolution) the stress level is only going to get higher.

Breaking News: Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, along with his side-kick Vinnie Cerrato have commenced trade talks with Pat Bowlen and the Denver Broncos for the services of Jay Cutler.

Allen (Sterling, VA): Hey Matt, I'm assuming that Orakpo will be gone by the time the Redskins pick at #13. In that case, do you think Everette Brown would be a good pick for them? I envision him much like Orakpo, a guy who can play strong side linebacker and put his hand in the dirt on 3rd down to rush the passer from the end position.

SportsNation Matt Mosley: Yeah, it's looking like Orakpo might be gone. The Redskins need to take the best player. They're not in position to start drafting on need at 13. I think they may go after someone like Oher, but you never know with this team. With only four picks, there's the chance Cousin Vinny tries to trade out of that pick and produce some more draft picks.

Redskins Fan: Hey Matt--please tell me why the Skins can't find a decent place kicker? Their M.O. the last few years is winning or losing by three points or less. I don't understand why they don't place more importance on the kicking game (don't get me started on the punting situation--that's a whole other ball of wax). Thanks.

SportsNation Matt Mosley: I know that Shaun Suisham didn't have a great season -- and I remember the kick against the Seahawks. That said, I think he can be a very reliable kicker. I think he'll reward the Redskins for sticking with them. The Redskins tried to draft a punter and they whiffed. There's a guy by the last name Sepulveda who they should've taken a couple years ago.

Paul Geneva NY: Hey Matt with the signing of wynn and daniels at le do you think the redskins can hold off on that position untill next year? If so do you see them drafting a player like lb cushing from USC?

SportsNation Matt Mosley: I don't think the 'Skins can afford to hold off any longer. Those guys are long in the tooth. I wouldn't want to start the season with those guys as front-line players.

I'm sure there will be some real interest around the league, but my take on Cutler is that I would rather have Campbell. More stable, not a cry-baby. Campbell has shown that he can be a top 10 QB, maybe better. So I do not see an upgrade by chasing after Cutler. I would rather take my chances with Jason C.

Jason: (Calgary, AB): Hey Matt. Who are the "mostly under the radar" players from the Beast to look out for this season? Players who fans outside of the division might not be terribly familiar with going but who are poised for big seasons. I say Quinton Mikell from the Eagles leads the pack.

SportsNation Matt Mosley: I like this question, Jason. And folks, we're now approaching 550 questions. I need you to show up on time next week so I'll have a better chance of getting to you.

Redskins: I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I think Devin Thomas will be a difference maker for Jason Campbell next season

Denver Broncos president and CEO Pat Bowlen on Tuesday released the following statement:

"Numerous attempts to contact Jay Cutler in the last 10 days, both by Head Coach Josh McDaniels and myself, have been unsuccessful.

"A conversation with his agent earlier today clearly communicated and confirmed to us that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos.
"We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded."

35 Days to the Draft: Finding a QB
Quarterbacks who take care of the ball tend to go higher in the draft
Comment Email Print Share
Insider
By Tom Haberstroh
Special to Insider
Archive

Quick quiz: Which quarterback got drafted higher?

A: The one who threw for 5,833 yards and 52 TD in 2003.
B: The guy who completed better than 70 percent of his passes in 2007.
C: The player who threw just five interceptions in 521 passes in 2007.
D: The one whose QB rating was 181.7 in the 2004 season.

It wasn't A (B.J. Symons of Texas Tech), B (Colt Brennan of Hawaii) or D (Stefan LeFors of Louisville). Despite those gaudy stats, the only first-rounder of the bunch was C, Joe Flacco of Delaware. You know, the guy who led the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game as a rookie last season.

Why did the Ravens like him so much? Was it Delaware's close proximity? Was it his size? Turns out, that low interception rate probably had a lot to do with it. When it comes to projecting draft position, how often a quarterback throws a pick (interceptions per pass attempt) trumped any other statistic in a study of the 103 quarterbacks picked since 2001 (excluding Matt Cassel, Adrian McPherson and A.J. Feeley, none of whom attempted at least 100 passes in their final college seasons). After studying the correlation between draft position and traditional counting stats (interceptions, passing yards, touchdowns), ratio stats (completion percentage, interceptions per attempt, yards per attempt, touchdowns per attempt) and passer efficiency, trends emerged. The key points? Interceptions are crucial. Touchdowns, not so much

Perhaps interceptions are important because they are about as clear a window as you can find into a quarterback's mental abilities. Scouts can measure physical attributes at the combine, but interceptions are lessons in decision-making. They are mistakes resulting from poor reads, bad decisions or inaccuracy. Flacco, based on his low rate of interceptions, apparently entered the NFL well-prepared mentally.

Meanwhile, it makes sense that touchdowns aren't as strong an indicator of draft position. After all, getting into the end zone is far less a function of the quarterback than of his team's overall offensive scheme, his coach's play calling and the skill of his wide receivers (whether they're dragging a toe inside the end line or turning a screen pass into a 65-yard race to pay dirt).

So how should INT rate impact this year's draft? Well, it argues in favor of Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, whom Scouts Inc. currently ranks ninth among quarterbacks. That might be a bit low, since his stats compare favorably to those of Philip Rivers, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft. Rivers threw an interception every 69 passes; Harrell got picked off once every 69.6 attempts. Only 10 quarterbacks in the eight-year study had a better rate than Harrell, so maybe his coach, Mike Leach, isn't just exhibiting bias in claiming Harrell is the top quarterback in the draft.

Meanwhile, interceptions don't bode well for Louisville's Hunter Cantwell. He's 6-foot-5, and his arm strength has impressed scouts. But his numbers are eerily similar to the senior-year stats of ESPN's own Jesse Palmer, who was the seventh quarterback picked in 2001 and never emerged as a legit NFL passer. Cantwell threw 16 total TDs and an interception every 23.6 attempts; Palmer tossed 18 TDs and got picked off once every 23.1 throws.

The close proximity in ranking between Cantwell and Harrell illustrates the vast number of evaluative factors that determine draft position. But if the relationship between draft status and passing statistics holds, Harrell will likely jump ahead of Cantwell when it counts.

Pls trade for Cutler now. Has a losing record with flour sieve for a defense. 13-1 when other team scores 21 or less.
Give whatever it takes. Use rest of picks on O-line, LB's, DE. Take whatever we can win this year.

Even if he thinks he's right, he'll make anyone hoping to add him to their roster hesitate and ask, "I know he's peeved, but damn, only a chick stays mad about being slighted this long. What kind of a guy is he?"

His agent should advise him to play lip service to Pat Bowlen while a trade gets worked on on the down low or else folks are going wonder if this is how he always over-reacts to being slighted.

At the end of the day, Cutler's still playing pro football come Oct. 1st of this year, so what's his beef?

The dude is aping like he's got HOF numbers and two rings already, and is pissed that some rookie is being giving his reps with the 1st unit in off season practice.

You want class: remember how there was friction between Montana/Young and nobody knew about it until Joe went to Kansas City to end his career? That's how you're supposed to handle your business: discreetly with a chilled attitude.

Six Teams And Counting Interested In Cutler
Posted by Mike Florio on March 31, 2009, 10:19 p.m.
The “For Sale” sign has been planted in the front yard, and the Broncos will soon be showing potential buyers the partially-finished basement.

According to Charles Robinson and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, at least six teams are interested in Cutler.

The Jets, Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, 49ers, and Browns already have been identified. Per Robinson and Cole, the Jaguars have shown interest as well.

As we’ve been saying over and over until people tell us to shut up, any team contemplating using a first-round pick on a quarterback should be interested in Cutler, because unlike an unproven rookie first-rounder Cutler has shown that he can perform at the NFL level.

Meanwhile, chatter persists in league circles regarding the Redskins. We heard several weeks ago that the ‘Skins are indeed interested. As one league source reiterated moments ago, the pursuit of Cutler in 2009 could be driven by the intended pursuit of the man who drafted him in 2010 — former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.

alan4-my take only. when a team has no def, very little in running game, the qb has to take chances and score 30 to win. we have a pretty good running game, an excellent defense and an excellent coach for qbs to not take many chances. too many times jc had open receivers but his big windup and couldnt pull the trigger or didnt see the field cost us. watched every game last yeat and that is just my take.

Cutler will most likely be part of a 3 way trade, which will include a team with 2 QBs. Denver isn't trying to make a 1 QB for another trade (ie Campbell for Cutler).

Among the teams with too many QBs are AZ and Cleveland (is Leftwich still under contract in Pittsburgh?). No team will leave the trade without a decent QB, but in order to collect value, a 3 way trade makes the most sense. SF, Jets, Tampa are among the teams with a major need.

The earlier rumors about Cutler and Shanahan coming this way are bound to start again. Less likely given how far the postseason has progressed and the current cap situation, but I wouldn't rule anything out.

You want class: remember how there was friction between Montana/Young and nobody knew about it until Joe went to Kansas City to end his career? That's how you're supposed to handle your business: discreetly with a chilled attitude.

Somebody needs to give Cutler a hug.

Posted by: MistaMoe

Ummm, the friction between Joe and Steve Young happened long before that. In 1990 season playoffs, the 49ers were playing the jints in the playoffs. 49ers led 13-12 when Roger Craig coffed the ball up while running down the game clock. The jints ran a few plays and kicked a long FG as time expired. After the game, Montana was quoted as saying, "we had the lead when I was in the game". Total slap at Young. Supposedly, it was Montana's wife that really was the fly in the ointment.

HPYTRKR1, I don't see how you can say the Broncos have no running game. Teamwide, they were 12th in the league (Skins were 8th). But here's a stat worth noting: CPortis got 9 TDs on 342 carries. The Broncos had 3 no-name backs who combined for 205 carries and 10 TDs. That no-name trio had a 4.7 yard/carry avg. The Broncos had a stable O-line.

Why were the Skins ranked higher in rushing? Maybe this was a factor:

JC-whiner, 57 carries for 200 yards.
JC17, 47 carries for 258 yards.

And don't forget, Skins played against better defenses than the Brocos. (Raiders? Chiefs? A division with nobody better than 8-8? That should help the old stats!)

I don't know about better, but very different. Campbell has the advantage in accuracy, and his completion percentage should always be higher, just as the INTs should be lower. He's not a natural fit for the Seattle style West Coast, but then, neither is Cutler.

Jay's the big play, deep throwing type. The poor man's Brett Favre. He's certainly more capable of taking over a game in the fourth than Jason is, but he's also more capable of losing it, too.

Cutler is probably the better natural QB than Leinart and Vince Young. Of course, Campbell looks like he might turn out better than Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers, too. Except to the folks on this board, I mean.

OVerall those were two drafts that haven't panned out for QBs.

The real difficulty in comparing them is that they played in such different schemes. Denver did well when Cutler had a decent running attack, not so well when he was asked to carry the load on his shoulders. Plus Denver had Brandon Marshall, a really difficult receiver to cover -- something Campbell has never had. Jason, maanwhile, has showed a discipline that Cutler has never approached. He may seem excessively quiet to some, but I've been impressed by the way he's handled each challenge to his position. Reminds me a little of Doug Williams, another guy who got a lot of criticism early in his career, and somehow managed to benefit from it.

I hope all this is BS, and just being reported to get more for Cutler.

Report: Redskins “Among The Leading Candidates” To Get Cutler
Posted by Mike Florio on April 1, 2009, 7:07 a.m. EDT
Yahoo! Sports published on Tuesday night a list of six teams interested in Denver quarterback Jay Cutler, whom the Broncos will trade.

The list didn’t include the Redskins.

But it now should.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, the Redskins are one of the leading candidates to land Cutler.

The move isn’t surprising to us; we’ve heard chatter for several weeks that the Redskins are interested. Last month, executive V.P. of football operations Vinny Cerrato issued a carefully-worded non-denial denial of interest in Cutler.

Another key angle at play here is the status of former Denver coach Mike Shanahan. The Redskins could be eyeballing a one-two punch that would involve getting Cutler now, and then getting Shanahan in 2010.

And maybe, as our pal Todd Wright of Sporting News Radio pointed out during our Tuesday night visit with him, the ‘Skins would pull off an April/May coaching change, swapping out Jim Zorn for Shanahan.

Of course, such a move would make it difficult to comply with the Rooney Rule, since anyone with any sense would realize that Shanahan is the target, if Zorn were to be fired so late in the offseason. Barring an Art Shell-style sham interview, the Redskins would have to factor a hefty fine into the budget for buying out Zorn and acquiring Shanahan.

He had started to come around, meeting several times with McDaniels and expressing an eagerness to learn his intricate Patriots-style attack that will replace the West Coast system he's been running since he was a rookie.

Three years in the same system. I wonder what JC can do in the same system for three years.

'...Montana was quoted as saying, "we had the lead when I was in the game".

And the Montana v. Young saga played out for what, 3-4 months in the media with media types yakking endlessly about a ton of 'never-will-happen-but-hey-let's-talk-about-it-anyway' trade scenarios?

And we all know now Young and Montana were as close as Tony Soprano and Uncle Junior, and we all know how that relationship ended with Young getting HOF respect as well. But we never heard anything about disrespect between them until after the fact.

And how many rings and great comebacks did Montana have by that time in his career anyways? He had the right to complain about Young and Walsh. Cutler, demanding props like he a star?: fuggida-bout-it.

All Cutler has won is a ride on the great carousel of an NFL career--something tons of dudes do every NFL draft month. Tell him to win some jewelry before beefing about respect like he's a HOF.

you know one of the biggest things for a qb is team chemistry and campbell has that all the main guys love campbell portis moss rogers cooley landry fletcher they all speak highly and have a bond with campbell so takin him out and adding a lil sissyboy like cutler is gonna really piss them guys off i think its all bogus you gottta believe them guys have all called vinny and expressed to him they dont want and arrogant bigheaded qb who aint ever did sh*t but alienate members of his team
this post is bogus

what better to drive up the price for cutler then reporting the redskins want him! every agent leaks sum sh*t like that when a high profile player is a free agent or lookin to be traded they know the other teams will act quickly and be willin to pay more sooner if they think the redskins are gonna swoop in and pay the guy big money!

Report: Redskins “Among The Leading Candidates” To Get Cutler
Posted by Mike Florio on April 1, 2009, 7:07 a.m.
Yahoo! Sports published on Tuesday night a list of six teams interested in Denver quarterback Jay Cutler, whom the Broncos will trade.

The list didn’t include the Redskins.

But it now should.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, the Redskins are one of the leading candidates to land Cutler.

The move isn’t surprising to us; we’ve heard chatter for several weeks that the Redskins are interested. Last month, executive V.P. of football operations Vinny Cerrato issued a carefully-worded non-denial denial of interest in Cutler.

Another key angle at play here is the status of former Denver coach Mike Shanahan. The Redskins could be eyeballing a one-two punch that would involve getting Cutler now, and then getting Shanahan in 2010.

And maybe, as our pal Todd Wright of Sporting News Radio pointed out during our Tuesday night visit with him, the ‘Skins would pull off an April/May coaching change, swapping out Jim Zorn for Shanahan.

Of course, such a move would make it difficult to comply with the Rooney Rule, since anyone with any sense would realize that Shanahan is the target, if Zorn were to be fired so late in the offseason. Barring an Art Shell-style sham interview, the Redskins would have to factor a hefty fine into the budget for buying out Zorn and acquiring Shanahan.

I know football and baseball are two different sports, but what kills about football is the impatience factor.

In baseball, teams will coddle a guy with a great arm for years until he figures out how to use it. In fact, baseball teams are more willing to let a guy do what's his best thing just to get back their investment before deciding to let him move on.

In football, teams draft quarterbacks high, give them a pile of cash, and say, "Okay, you've got three years to learn this highly complicated playbook that's based on a system that's the total opposite of what you ran in college."

I think the obvious busts--Andre Ware, Heath Shuler, Ryan Leaf--and the yet-to-pan-out quarterbacks are two different things.

For every Joey Harrington, there's a Kurt Warner or Jon Kitna or Byron Leftwich who figures out how to survive.

I'd give some of these kids--Leinhart, Young, Campbell-- some time before tossing them aside.

arrogant bigheaded qb who aint ever did sh*t but alienate members of his team
this post is bogus

Posted by: all_this_bs | April 1, 2009 7:30 AM

I don't want Cutler either but to play a little devil's advocate, Cutler didn't alienate teammates...just the new head coach. His teammates don't want the distraction, but I'm pretty sure they don't want the guy gone.

This move would suck on so many levels I can't stand it. To make this move now and then chase Shanahan (if the PFT report is even in the ballpark), you're basically scrapping 2009 and looking to make a run in 2010. I'm not necessarily against that, but it goes against their approach to this offseason...not to mention it would essentially erase any notion that this FO knows what the hell it's doing.

brownwood:
I don't want Cutler either but to play a little devil's advocate, Cutler didn't alienate teammates...just the new head coach. His teammates don't want the distraction, but I'm pretty sure they don't want the guy gone
========================================

i agree i made a mistake in clarifing myself however i would bet they do want him gone cause know one wants a whining lil sissy cat leading there team who throws lil tantrums like a 2 year old in a candy isle they should treat him like the lil 2 year ols and woop his a** you cant rally behind a guy like that you need a tough bull nose player to get behind and i think JC is as tuff as they come!!

Report: Redskins “Among The Leading Candidates” To Get Cutler
Posted by Mike Florio on April 1, 2009, 7:07 a.m.

Yahoo! Sports published on Tuesday night a list of six teams interested in Denver quarterback Jay Cutler, whom the Broncos will trade.

The list didn’t include the Redskins.

But it now should.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, the Redskins are one of the leading candidates to land Cutler.

The move isn’t surprising to us; we’ve heard chatter for several weeks that the Redskins are interested. Last month, executive V.P. of football operations Vinny Cerrato issued a carefully-worded non-denial denial of interest in Cutler.

Another key angle at play here is the status of former Denver coach Mike Shanahan. The Redskins could be eyeballing a one-two punch that would involve getting Cutler now, and then getting Shanahan in 2010.

And maybe, as our pal Todd Wright of Sporting News Radio pointed out during our Tuesday night visit with him, the ‘Skins would pull off an April/May coaching change, swapping out Jim Zorn for Shanahan.

Of course, such a move would make it difficult to comply with the Rooney Rule, since anyone with any sense would realize that Shanahan is the target, if Zorn were to be fired so late in the offseason. Barring an Art Shell-style sham interview, the Redskins would have to factor a hefty fine into the budget for buying out Zorn and acquiring Shanahan.

Answer: The short answer is simply that NO team CAN go over the Salary Cap. Note that every contract must go through the NFL League Office before the deal can be made official. Presumably, one of the things the league must do at this time is determine whether or not the contract would violate the NFL's Salary Cap. If the deal does violate the cap, then the NFL will reject it.

If a team releases or trades a player and the signing bonus acceleration puts a team over the Salary Cap, the team will have seven days to conform with the Salary Cap. However, they may not sign any players until there is room to do so under the Salary Cap.

There have been instances in which a team has managed to sneak a cap evading contract by the league. Upon further review, the violations were caught by the league and the respective teams were penalized. Penalties include fines and/or forfeiture of draft picks. In recent history both the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers have been penalized draft picks, while the 49ers' front office personnel (Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark) were also fined.

As for that PFT post: I know they usually post some goofy stuff on April Fools Day, but I don't think this is under that category because they're attributing the report for a Denver Post writer. If I recall correctly, Florio usually will just post something made up without putting someone else's name to it.

Atb, I just don't get why you think he's a pussy...dude plays hard and has overcome severe weight loss from diabetes. He's acting like a crybaby right now, but I wouldn't call it a character flaw of his, per se.

There are a dozen reason to pass on this guy...being a pussy ain't one of 'em in my opinion.

"And don't forget, Skins played against better defenses than the Brocos. (Raiders?"

Not to harp on this too much, but Cutler worked the Raiders defense, comprised of the Redskins' newly re-signed $50 million CB Deangelo Hall AND the record-breaking, consensus #1 CB in the league Nnamdi Asomugha. And he did it without Brandon Marshall.

Look, I like Jason Campbell. It's obvious to anybody that's ever seen me defend him. I think he's going to be a great QB in the league.

But Cutler + Shanahan has the potential to be the greatest long-term QB-Coach offensive combo since Holmgren + Favre (outside of Peyton + Moore).

Interesting stat for all you hating on Cutler because of his "W-L"; Cutler's record when his defense holds their opponent under 21 points: 13-1. That one loss was to Brett Favre when he threw an 82 yard TD pass on the first play in overtime to end the game. Cutler is the real deal. Shanahan is the real deal. If Snyder were able to get the two of them here, together, it would be the greatest thing Danny has done for this franchise. No doubt about it.

brown, sounds to me like he's just recycling stuff from the last time...which the coach(zorn)as well as Cerrato came out and denied.

I don't know, it just sounds to me like a bunch of crap.....Len Pasquarelli practically invented this type of reporting, which is to include the Redskins in it, no matter what, just to generate interest.

Cutler is the real deal. Shanahan is the real deal. If Snyder were able to get the two of them here, together, it would be the greatest thing Danny has done for this franchise. No doubt about it.

Posted by: psps23 | April 1, 2009 8:27 AM

Um, there is doubt about it. They were together last year and blew their lead in the easiest division in football. I'm pretty sure Shanny has only 1 playoff win without the benefit of John Elway at QB. And he's one of a million examples of why you shouldn't give one man both the Head Coach and GM hats.

Is Cutler an upgrade over Campbell. Maybe. Is Shanny an upgrade over Zorn? Definitely. Is it a lock that a Cutler-Shanahan rival in D.C. will work? Far from it.

I don't know, it just sounds to me like a bunch of crap.....Len Pasquarelli practically invented this type of reporting, which is to include the Redskins in it, no matter what, just to generate interest.

Posted by: BeantownGreg | April 1, 2009 8:32 AM

C'mon Greg...don't compare Florio to that fat piece of crap Pastabelly! That asshat is the reason I hate sportswriters! His obvious agendas and blantant personal biases...dude is the worst kind of journalist. He's in the same category as Dr. Z in my opinion.

I just think people have to put Florio in the proper perspective...he's a blogger! Not a journalist, not a writer...a blogger. The only difference between him and any of us is that he's got a few sources in the league that feed him stuff.

I THINK FLORIO IS IN CAHUTES WITH CANLAFORA HE POSTS A RUMOR ABOUT REDSKINS AND JLC BLOG GETTS MORE HITS WITH OUT HIM RIGHTING A NEW BLOG SO HE GETS TO KEEP HIS JOB WITH OUT ANY WORK NOT SURE WHAT FLORIO GETS OUT THE DEAL?

'...I don't want Cutler either but to play a little devil's advocate...'

I'd rather be a realist than a Devil's Advocate.

Fact is, Jason Campbell has shown flashes of being a quarterback on a level Redskins fans haven't had in a long time.

Hopefully, Jim Zorn disses CP a lil bit and chooses to ride Campbell early on in the season to gauge just what he has in a passing game. The skins can run the ball, it's the scoring via the touchdown we have issues with.

Let Campbell play and prepare this off season without the buzz of trade and drafting Sanchez in his head.

We don't want him to be a savior--just a guy who when the team is down in the 3rd quarter, can be trusted to get a comeback going with his arms and legs.

The team must make a goal of getting one more touchdown a game to go with it's good defense. A league ranked fourth defense and a team that scores 24+ points a game is a playoff team.

We have posted for months that the maturation of Jason Campbell is the most important issue facing the Washington Redskins. The guy has this season to prove his value to the franchise, plain and simple.

"Is Cutler an upgrade over Campbell. Maybe. Is Shanny an upgrade over Zorn? Definitely. Is it a lock that a Cutler-Shanahan rival in D.C. will work? Far from it.

Posted by: brownwood26"

Who said anything about it being a lock? Nothing is a lock in this league, and certainly not Jim Zorn.

The question is "is Cutler + Shanahan an upgrade over Campbell + Zorn?". The answer to that, as of right now, is unequivocally yes. Campbell and Cutler may be close to the same level (although different styles), but Shanahan blows Zorn out of the water. They don't compare.

In 14 seasons, Shanahan has had only 4 where his offense ranked outside of the top 10. Only 2 of those seasons he was in the bottom half of the league (once with Griese, once during Cutler's rookie year). Give the man a top 10 defense, and he'll tear up this league. And it just so happens that the Redskins have just that.

Nope, nobody will convince me that bringing Shanahan and Cutler in here is a bad idea. Not even close. You'd have to bring Belichick and Brady or Manning and Moore to have an upgrade over that (Brees + Payton would be close).

I don't think we could fit Cutler under the salary cap anyway, plus he is going to want a big money deal.

Posted by: Flounder21 | April 1, 2009 7:35 AM

Flound - You are so much smarter than that. Remember the mistakes of others so you shalt not make the same.

Remember a certain reporter said there is no way we can get Haynesworth due to us being in serious salary cap SJK?

Look, you give him a base salary this year, and next year, the unCAPed year, give him a gaurenteed $30 Mil roster bonus, and a couple more $5 MIl roster bonuses in futuer years, and you can get it done.

The redskins CAN AND WILL do whatever they want under Danny. This is your team for the next 50 years.......

I THINK A TEAM WITH ZORN AND CAMPBELL FAIRS WAY BETTER IN 2009 THEN SHANNY AND CUTLER WITH THE REST OF THE TEAM HAVIN TO LEARN A WHOLE NEW SYSTEM AGAIN WHO KNOWS IN THE LONG RUN BUT I HAVENT GIVEN UP ON 2009 YET I THINK WE HAVE A GOOD CHANCE IF OUR RECIEVERS STEP UP AND OUR OLINE STAYS HEALTHY TO MAKE A POUSH DEEP INTO THE PLAYOFFS AND EVEN THE POSSIBILITY OF A SUPERBOWL APPEARENCE IN A WEAK NFC!

although i do have one question why does the caps bother so many people its like no matter what site yur on everyone gets mad at the caps just curious i kinda perfer when others use caps makes it easier to read just curious thats all

Flirtation Between Snyder, Shanahan Already Has Begun?
Posted by Mike Florio on April 1, 2009, 9:08 a.m.
We realize that, because it’s April 1, many of you will be suspecting that every story we post today will be part of our annual April Fool’s Day routine. In fact, most of you are so keenly aware of our ritual of making up a story on April 1 (as opposed to the ones we make up the other 364 days of the year) that you’re bracing for the inevitable “Ben Roethlisberger To Retire” headline.

(Meanwhile, roughly five percent of the audience now believes that we’re reporting Ben Roethlisberger is retiring.)

We’re not saying whether or not we’ll slip in a little April Fool’s blurb between now and midnight, but we realize as the traffic mushrooms that perpetuating phony stories will jeopardize whatever shreds of credibility we’ve managed to compile over the years.

We say all that because, while the following story might be perceived to be an April 1 gag, it’s not.

During an impromptu PFT spot on WJFK in D.C. this morning, one of the Junkies mentioned that there was a rumor of a January meeting between Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. We’d heard the same thing, but to my recollection we’d never posted it.

With Broncos quarterback and Shanahan protege Jay Cutler now linked to the ‘Skins, it makes sense to point out that, indeed, there was/is a rumor that Snyder and Shanahan met.

We fully expect the team to deny it — just like they did last year when rumors flew that the Redskins had spoken with Bill Cowher after Joe Gibbs retired. (Cowher, by the way, would later confirm the discussions.)

And we figure that, at some point, the Redskins will have to address the new report linking them more strongly than ever to Cutler.

It’ll need to be far more convincing that Vinny Cerrato’s statement from last month

"USA Today's list of teams said for the redskins to make the trade is JC + the 13th pick

Posted by: alex35332"

This makes it a tough call. The problem comes in because there are way too many other teams out there that will be fighting to get this guy. We'd have to recoup some another pick or two to give up the 13th overall and Campbell.

I misread your "no doubt about it" at the end of your post, so disregard that part of my response. But as nice as a Cutler-Shanahan combo in D.C. looks on paper, things seldom look the same on the field as they do on paper. Espcecially with this franchise. I refuse to get my hopes up on this team until the FO structure is changed. And if a HoF coach (Gibbs) can't get it done here, I can't think of anyone that can under these current circumstances. Shanny and Cutler would make things fun and exciting, but I can easily see this team finding another reason to go 8-8 and break our hearts all over again.

so, ok, I'll entertain this trade, but my question is how is Cutler going to be able to perform when he's on his backside?? You can trade for Tom Brady, and when he's getting sacked and has no time to pass, doesn't it totally negate their effectiveness??

'...Fact is Cutler has shown more than flashes. He's younger and to this point has shown more than JC has....'

Like I say, it's the impatience thing in football that kills me.

Folks want to change quarterbacks like they're dirty underwear.

And if the big move is made and Cutler becomes our quarterback, how long will it be before some hacks start griping about this 'n that regarding the kid--the INTs for instance, that Campbell doesn't toss?

Crabs move sideways and mediocre teams do as well.

Switching out Campbell for Culter is nothing but a sideways move when some of us would rather wait on one of the upgrades--Bradford, especially-- that await in the 2010 draft.

Here is the only deal I would offer to Denver to even sit down at the table. realize all the chips are in the Skins stack, we have a QB we say we are behind and he is happy in DC, the players around him respect him, just read what guys like Cooley and Moss say. If Denver wants to move Cutler then they need to give us the sweetheart offer.

imean guys our ship aint sunk just needs a lil caulk and clue to fix a couple leaks we were 6-2 and i agree sum of that was cause jim zorn had never even been a coordinator so people didnt know what to expect from him all as a first year head coach with not even a coordinator position things faired pretty well and i think he campbell will be light years above where they were at last year this year we all always say we need sum continuity and just when things are lookin hopefull everyone wants to start over we stay idle till draft fix our depth at o-line and linebacker i actually like heyer at guard and sams and doc locks it down and like every other team i the league hope we stay healthy watch jc and the 08 draftees step up and take us 4 a ride!!

"And if a HoF coach (Gibbs) can't get it done here, I can't think of anyone that can under these current circumstances."

Gibbs fell into the same FO trap, in that he couldn't (for some reason) convince himself to commit to his offense.

I highly, highly doubt that would be the case with Shanahan, especially if he had his hand-picked QB here with him who's been in his system for 3 years. It would be like Saunders + Collins, only instead of a career back-up QB, Shanahan would have his top choice, pro-bowl QB with him. Shanny's as arrogant as they come, and there's no way he'd defer to another coordinator the way Gibbs did.

And just to be clear, the main reason I'd be okay with a Cutler trade is only if Shanahan were part of the package (eventually) as well.

Don't know why Matt Ryan wasn't on the list somewhere. The only possible QB the Broncs could get in the top 2 groups in a trade for Cutler is McNabb who is probably too old to be of interest. Every other QB is definitely inferior to Cutler. So it looks like the Broncs are going to have to bite the bullet and rebuild from scratch, which just shows how gnarly things have become for them vis a vis Cutler. That being the case, Detroit is probably their most coveted trade partner because they have mucho picks, especially #1. But would Detroit really want to trade picks for Cutler? They are in a rebuilding mode and need as many picks as possible. That is why they probably have no interest whatsoever in giving the Skins their 20 and 33 for the Skins 15.

its quite funny to me that this "insider" blog hasn't even made a post about the cutler story yet today even after yahoo had something up yesterday afternoon. What a joke this site has become. Keep up the good work JLC!

"A real QB would have sucked it up and played for his team, teammates and coaches.

Posted by: matthewvickers"

A "real" QB, like Eli, Favre, or Elway? All 3 were immature "crybaby's" that were traded out of a situation they didn't want (Favre -- talking about the Falcons). All 3 have shiny rings on their fingers.

And just to be clear, the main reason I'd be okay with a Cutler trade is only if Shanahan were part of the package (eventually) as well.

Posted by: psps23 | April 1, 2009 9:29 AM

Then it looks like we're on the same side of the argument for a change...it just breaks my heart that the team is already so far away from the foundation laid out by Gibbs 2.0. Solid, mentally tough football team with good character. Not saying that is ALL gone, but it's certainly moving in that direction by getting Haynesworth and playing footsie with Cutler. Gibbs (if nothing else) set the proper course for this franchise and Vinny's already got it off track. Truly sad time to be a Skins fan if you cut through all the b.s. of this offseason...

Here is the only deal I would offer to Denver to even sit down at the table. realize all the chips are in the Skins stack, we have a QB we say we are behind and he is happy in DC, the players around him respect him, just read what guys like Cooley and Moss say. If Denver wants to move Cutler then they need to give us the sweetheart offer

by alex

deja-vu i knew there were still sum skins fans out there who havent been corrupted with the grass is greener on the other side concept that danny and vinny have been pushin!

I disagree Mistamoe. Cutler has shown he can be an Elite NFL QB. Something that JC, who's had more time has not done. Perhaps that is playcalling the system, the players etc. But it's known that Cutler can make it happen given those things. It's not clear whether or not JC can.

I don't think we'll give up this years first rounder and JC. Simply too many holes to fill. Perhaps next years first rounder or our first rounder and JC for their second rounder. Right now I put the odds of us getting him at 10%.

Young franchise QBs are a very rare commodity however and you must at least try.

Moe, I agree of course we should just do what Vinny said was the plan when he did that radio interview, a sign on the door that says vet min only, and just draft.(I agree with Vinny... WTF) He did not say draft to fix the lines and the OLB but thats what we need to do.

ATBS I am a big fan of the first rule of the Hitchhikers Guide. Don't Panic.

welll ei wouldnt take eli over campbell on eli's best day there is just nothin great about him favre a whole nother story gr8 qb but i wouldnt want him either i perfer less ints i would rather have less tds than give up that many game changing tds andas far as elway well i really cant say anything about him

I know that's not your list, but how does D McNabb, a super bowl quarterback who just lost a NFC championship to a super bowl winning quarterback 2 months ago, rated beneath the likes of Brees and Rivers?

"so, ok, I'll entertain this trade, but my question is how is Cutler going to be able to perform when he's on his backside?? You can trade for Tom Brady, and when he's getting sacked and has no time to pass, doesn't it totally negate their effectiveness??

Posted by: BeantownGreg"

The team's going to have to rebuild the lines regardless of whether or not Cutler is here. Keeping Campbell doesn't change that. Yes, they'll be one pick shorter (only that much, hopefully), but they would also have a dynamic attack waiting in the wings.

by psp:
And just to be clear, the main reason I'd be okay with a Cutler trade is only if Shanahan were part of the package (eventually) as well
by brownwood:
Then it looks like we're on the same side of the argument for a change...it just breaks my heart that the team is already so far away from the foundation laid out by Gibbs 2.0. Solid, mentally tough football team with good character. Not saying that is ALL gone, but it's certainly moving in that direction by getting Haynesworth and playing footsie with Cutler

i disagree with psp but he stays true to what he believes so i can respect that but brown your statement was one giant contradiction! wtf! you cant play on both sides the fence

Will,
Never thought in a million years that Vinny would be capable of that, hell even Morocco Brown is a long shot, I have no clue how desperate Denver is to move Cutty, I am just thinking you go into a negotiation like this expecting maybe a 15% chance at it working.

"psp, how do you know that if they get a rt that they don't have a dynamic attack right now??

Posted by: BeantownGreg"

I don't. It's very possible. But I think you're going to be very hard-pressed to find a neutral observer that thinks an offensive mind who coached a team ranked 19th overall and 28th in points scored has a better shot at building a dominant offense than coach with the pedigree of Shanahan.

Again, let's be clear, I won't be upset if the trade is NOT made, but I certainly would be happy if Shanahan + Cutler were brought in.

We must have a different idea of what a franchise QB is. I can name maybe 1 or 2 guys in the history of the NFL that became a good not great QB at 28 or older after 4 or 5 years in the league.

How many times has JC led us back from behind in the 4th quarter? How many times has he made plays with his arm to keep a play alive? More times than not he's failed. I'd rather go have a beer with JC over Cutler any day of the week but ultimately he hasn't shown himself to be anything other than a game manager.